"Life's a Dance" is a debut song written by

Allen Shamblin Allen Shamblin is a country music songwriter who was born in Tennessee, and was brought up in Huffman, Texas. Biography After graduating from Sam Houston State University he worked in Austin as a real estate appraiser. In 1987, he quit his job ...

and

Steve Seskin Steve Seskin is an American singer, songwriter, and musician whose songs have been recorded by recording artists Choya Partridge Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Waylon Jennings, Tim McGraw, Collin Raye, and Mark Wills among others. The debut sing ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

John Michael Montgomery John Michael Montgomery (born January 20, 1965) is an American country music singer. Active from 1992 to 2025, he has had more than 30 singles on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' country charts. This total includes seven number-one singles ...

. It was released on September 21, 1992, as his debut single, and was served as the lead-off single and title track from his debut album '' Life's a Dance''. It peaked at number 4 on the U.S.

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

(now

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

) chart. It also peaked at number 3 on the Canadian ''RPM'' Country Tracks.

Content

The song is a mid-tempo, in which the narrator gives the example of being too scared to ask a girl out when he was 14 years old. The girl ends up moving away and he never had the chance to ask her. The narrator goes on to refer to life as "a dance" and says that "you learn as you go".

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine gave the song a mixed review, saying that Montgomery is a "fine and photogenic balladeer" but the song is "less than memorable."

Music video

The music video was directed by Marc Ball and premiered in late 1992. The video was filmed in

Durango, Colorado Durango is the home rule city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,071 at the 2020 United States census. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis College ...

and was the first time Montgomery had ever been on a plane.''

'', November 29, 2992 In 1994, he performed the song on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

music program ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American Concert, live music Television show, television program recorded and produced by KLRU, Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", an ...

'' during Season 19.

Chart positions

"Life's a Dance" debuted at number 69 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of October 3, 1992.

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1992 songs 1992 debut singles John Michael Montgomery songs Songs written by Steve Seskin Songs written by Allen Shamblin Song recordings produced by Doug Johnson (record producer) Atlantic Records singles